A Gwynedd councillor has praised council staff and her community for being “absolutely brilliant” during the recent spate of devastating storms battering the county.

Her words came as Storm Éowyn swept across North Wales Gwynedd councillor June Jones wanted to urge anyone experiencing difficulties during the extreme weather, to contact their local councillor to find out what help and support was available.

She also wanted to give a “big thank you” to all the council workers on the front line, clearing up fallen trees, dealing with floods and fixing the damage to roads and properties.

Cllr Jones said: “I really want to thank the council’s workforce for their part in restoring the road systems and in keeping our residents safe

“I also want to thank my own community, which is amazing and always pulls together in these times.

“When Storm Darragh came, it really hit our area badly. It was shocking to see just how many trees came down there and across Gwynedd – you just can’t foresee just how bad things are going to be.”

Cllr Jones, is the Cabinet Member for Highways, Engineering and Ymgynghoriaeth Gwynedd Consultancy, and recently reported to the council that Storm Darragh and Storm Bert, had cost her department around £400,000 in costs.

She said: “At one point, during Darragh there were around 30 roads blocked at the same time.

“We got the emergency red alert at 3am in the morning and our staff were out there in the early morning dealing with it.

“Without our staff clearing the roads, the emergency services would not have been able to get through, you don;t realise the knock on impact of these events.

“Thankfully the damage we have seen has been mainly to roads and property and we haven’t lost any lives – that is what we are always concerned about.”

Costs she said had been incurred by work teams using specialist equipment to deal with very large and sometimes dangerous, precariously balanced trees blocking the roads.

It also included more overtime payments, as the staff put in longer hours to try and keep up with the unprecedented issues.

She added: “At one time there were 30 roads closed in the county, with some roads closed for up to a week.

“Staff had to work extra hours to deal with the aftermath and it took up to a fortnight to catch up.

“In my own ward , Glaslyn, we were especially affected with absolutely enormous trees having come down and blocking the roads.

“Of course a large number of these trees were in a precarious situation, some with large branches just hanging over the roads and often having brought down stone walls and landslides.

“The storm also created flooding of the roads as well and houses were also affected.

“Again during the storm a number of areas lost their electricity and phone lines which added to the problems.”

Cllr Jones also wanted to praise and thank the people in her Glaslyn ward area, and in Beddgelert, who she said had gone the extra mile to help each other.

“I can only state that in my own ward the community was absolutely brilliant and of course knowing their own residents and their needs pulled together and helped those vulnerable and in need.

She cited examples of community kindnesses, including a local shop helping the elderly by helping to charge hearing aids during power outages and carers checking on the elderly.

“I think it is important for anyone during these weather and other emergency occurrences to contact their councillor to find what support is available in their community.

“I also think it is important for all residents, which ever part of the country they live in, to be prepared for such storms in future, have a torch handy for when the power goes, and keep phones charged before the weather hits.

“Thankfully we do now have a very accurate system in place now which alerts councils and residents of impending events.”